DSIF rides again

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

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Dear readers,

As fans of the SPDC's Department of Shooting Itself in the Foot (DSIF) will
observe, this powerful body is still alive and well, and doing its utmost to
counter the efforts of the junta's American PR firms (which recently withdrew
for non-payment of fees) to use a barrage of anti-drug rhetoric, drug seizures
and threats against the Wa to enhance the SPDC's standing with the
international community, particularly the US. (SPDC military action against its
Wa allies, by the way, might well cause a number of the other cease-fires to
break down, with unknown consequences inside and outside Burma.)

As the regime's anti-PR unit, the DSIF's latest campaign is to portray the
regime as brutal and utterly lacking in the Buddhist qualities of compassion
and tolerance. Its current tactic is to delay, or even  refuse, a visa for the
dying husband of Aung San Suu Kyi to come and meet his wife for the last time.
This gesture, presumably a Macchiavellian ploy to pressure Suu Kyi into making
a trip to Oxford from which she would not be allowed to return, is likely to
arouse a greater repugnance from Burmese and international opinion than any
other single action the regime has taken since 1988. The DSIF is indeed in good
form.

It may appear strange that this one gesture may have a more negative impact on
the SPDC's image than such acts as widespread torture, rape, killing, arbitrary
detention of elected MPs, or the destruction of the social and economic fabric
of a large proportion of the non-Burman ethnic groups by forced displacement,
as highlighted by the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar in his recent report to the
UN Commission on Human Rights. The reason, of course, is that the genocidal
destruction of the lives and livelihood of millions of people is on such a
scale as to be comprehensible only as statistics, whereas everyone can
empathise with a husband and wife prevented from making their final farewells
by a regime anxious to take political advantage of the tragedy. And indeed,
this is the stuff of high tragedy -- of Corneille, Racine or Shakespeare. Duty
to her people versus love of her husband, with the generals caught between the
need for international recognition and acceptance, and the imperatives of
clinging to power.

It is important, I feel, to see the trap the junta is in. It has the military
power -- enough to keep the people down by force, but the more it uses this
force, the more it is condemned at the international, regional and local level.
By virtue of the National League for Democracy's (NLD's) overwhelming election
victory in 1990, the NLD has the legitimacy of the popular mandate (whence
comes all political legitimacy -- "the will of the people shall be the basis of
the authority of government" as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
states, and all the UN Burma resolutions repeat). The NLD, however, has no
military force. The SPDC and its previous SLORC manifestation  have been able
to acquire a certain amount of recognition, by virtue of the nature of the
international system, which tends to recognise the entity which controls the
territory. Legitimacy is something else entirely, and the SPDC has none at all.


It has happened in history that a government which comes to power by force
turns out to be economically and politically competent, and is eventually able
to win popular support. The Burmese military, however, committed to the
mutually contradictory projects of increasing military control over the country
and encouraging foreign investment, is structurally incapable of arresting the
decline of the Burmese economy and crumbling political stability. The regime of
strongman Siad Barre before the collapse of Somalia comes to mind. The social
and economic situation of the vast majority of the Burmese people, particularly
in the non-Burman areas, is worse than it has ever been, and is getting worse.

So, lacking all legitimacy and fearful of taking the obvious step of
negotiating some kind of power- and legitimacy-sharing with the representatives
chosen by the people, the junta continues its military occupation of Burma, the
economy declines, and the neighbours, even China and ASEAN, become  more and
more irritated and embarrassed by the failure of their ally to make any
economic or political advances at all. The junta seeks desperately around for
any grain of legitimation it can find -- by being photographed opening bridges,
shaking hands with diplomats or paying respect to senior Buddhist monks, while
continuing to disrespect the Buddhist precepts of no-killing, no-stealing etc.
Its apparent lack of Metta (loving kindness, a central Buddhist virtue) in the
case of Michael Aris is just one example of the great distance between the
junta's Buddhist claims and the reality. 

Let us hope that these words are proved wrong, and that the spirit of metta and
the deep Buddhist culture and institutions of Burma will overcome any
temptation to gain short-term political ground from this tragic situation, or
let us hope even that the opposing groups will find a way from tragedy to
reconciliation -- which is the basic social and political purpose of classical
tragedy. 







Internet ProLink PC User

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<html>
<font face=3D"Courier, Courier">Dear readers,<br>
<br>
As fans of the SPDC's Department of Shooting Itself in the Foot (DSIF)
will observe, this powerful body is still alive and well, and doing its
utmost to counter the efforts of the junta's American PR firms (which
recently withdrew for non-payment of fees) to use a barrage of anti-drug
rhetoric, drug seizures and threats against the Wa to enhance the SPDC's
standing with the international community, particularly the US. (SPDC
military action against its Wa allies, by the way, might well cause a
number of the other cease-fires to break down, with unknown consequences
inside and outside Burma.)<br>
<br>
As the regime's anti-PR unit, the DSIF's latest campaign is to portray
the regime as brutal and utterly lacking in the Buddhist qualities of
compassion and tolerance. Its current tactic is to delay, or even&nbsp;
refuse, a visa for the dying husband of Aung San Suu Kyi to come and meet
his wife for the last time. This gesture, presumably a Macchiavellian
ploy to pressure Suu Kyi into making a trip to Oxford from which she
would not be allowed to return, is likely to arouse a greater repugnance
from Burmese and international opinion than any other single action the
regime has taken since 1988. The DSIF is indeed in good form.<br>
<br>
It may appear strange that this one gesture may have a more negative
impact on the SPDC's image than such acts as widespread torture, rape,
killing, arbitrary detention of elected MPs, or the destruction of the
social and economic fabric of a large proportion of the non-Burman ethnic
groups by forced displacement, as highlighted by the Special Rapporteur
on Myanmar in his recent report to the UN Commission on Human Rights. The
reason, of course, is that the genocidal destruction of the lives and
livelihood of millions of people is on such a scale as to be
comprehensible only as statistics, whereas everyone can empathise with a
husband and wife prevented from making their final farewells by a regime
anxious to take political advantage of the tragedy. And indeed, this is
the stuff of high tragedy -- of Corneille, Racine or Shakespeare. Duty to
her people versus love of her husband, with the generals caught between
the need for international recognition and acceptance, and the
imperatives of clinging to power.<br>
<br>
It is important, I feel, to see the trap the junta is in. It has the
military power -- enough to keep the people down by force, but the more
it uses this force, the more it is condemned at the international,
regional and local level. By virtue of the National League for
Democracy's (NLD's) overwhelming election victory in 1990, the NLD has
the legitimacy of the popular mandate (whence comes all political
legitimacy -- &quot;the will of the people shall be the basis of the
authority of government&quot; as the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights states, and all the UN Burma resolutions repeat). The NLD,
however, has no military force. The SPDC and its previous SLORC
manifestation&nbsp; have been able to acquire a certain amount of
recognition, by virtue of the nature of the international system, which
tends to recognise the entity which controls the territory. Legitimacy is
something else entirely, and the SPDC has none at all. <br>
<br>
It has happened in history that a government which comes to power by
force turns out to be economically and politically competent, and is
eventually able to win popular support. The Burmese military, however,
committed to the mutually contradictory projects of increasing military
control over the country and encouraging foreign investment, is
structurally incapable of arresting the decline of the Burmese economy
and crumbling political stability. The regime of strongman Siad Barre
before the collapse of Somalia comes to mind. The social and economic
situation of the vast majority of the Burmese people, particularly in the
non-Burman areas, is worse than it has ever been, and is getting
worse.<br>
<br>
So, lacking all legitimacy and fearful of taking the obvious step of
negotiating some kind of power- and legitimacy-sharing with the
representatives chosen by the people, the junta continues its military
occupation of Burma, the economy declines, and the neighbours, even China
and ASEAN, become&nbsp; more and more irritated and embarrassed by the
failure of their ally to make any economic or political advances at all.
The junta seeks desperately around for any grain of legitimation it can
find -- by being photographed opening bridges, shaking hands with
diplomats or paying respect to senior Buddhist monks, while continuing to
disrespect the Buddhist precepts of no-killing, no-stealing etc. Its
apparent lack of Metta (loving kindness, a central Buddhist virtue) in
the case of Michael Aris is just one example of the great distance
between the junta's Buddhist claims and the reality. <br>
<br>
Let us hope that these words are proved wrong, and that the spirit of
metta and the deep Buddhist culture and institutions of Burma will
overcome any temptation to gain short-term political ground from this
tragic situation, or let us hope even that the opposing groups will find
a way from tragedy to reconciliation -- which is the basic social and
political purpose of classical tragedy. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</font><br>
<div>Internet ProLink PC User</div>
</html>

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